Things You Never Ever Say to a Pregnant Person

Common sense?

Apparently not.

-"When are you due"? 

"February 22" 

"OH MAN! I thought you were having a Christmas baby"!!
Accompanied by a look of complete surprise. Jokes on you buddy, I've still got 2.5 months.

-When your friend show's your most recent bump picture to someone and the reaction is "How many babies is she having"? One. There's just one in there. And -10 friend points for you TAYLOR for telling me this story. (see above picture)

-"You look 9 months pregnant already"!

"Thanks".

"I didn't want to say anything"
Well, maybe you shouldn't have?

30 weeks

-"You look as good as ever"

So this 30 lb. belly is no different then when I didn't have it?

-"I think I am getting to the uncomfortable all the time stage"

Women laughs ridiculously loud and responds "Oh no, no you aren't"

Really? Because last time I checked I had no feeling under my ribs, my feet ache, my hips hurt, my upper and lower back never stop screaming at me, and I can't walk and talk at the same time for fear that I might pass out. You are right, I feel like I'm floating on air.

Half asleep, 31 weeks

-"Do you want a cookie"?

"No thank you"

"But you are pregnant, don't you always want a cookie"

"No, it literally wont fit in my body"
"Really"? (said with extremely large eyes)

I know my stomach is big, but trust me, if I could fit a cookie, I would. But I choose being able to breath as normal as possible.

-"Am I the only one super annoyed with the car alarm that's been going off forever"?
"Yes. It's a pregnancy thing" (coming from the guy wearing head phones)
No, it's not.

After the Nutcracker, still 31 weeks

-"You are only X weeks along? Your baby is going to be HUGE".
Is that a fat joke?

-While facetiming with my brother in Hong Kong, "Her feet are so swollen, see"? "OH GROSS"!!
OH GROSS, CODY?! Do you know what you eat?! That's what is gross my friend. I'll have you know that the reason for the swelling is, 31 weeks pregnant, air planes, high heals, walking around the mall for a few hours, venturing into temple square, and Utah's high altitude. What did you expect, Cody??

Probably the most embarrassing picture I've taken thus far. Jenna is 4 weeks ahead of me people, She doesn't even look pregnant in this picture.

I can assure you she is. And there is a bump there, she just carries hers with grace, and not two left feet like me.

-"When are you due"
"February 22"
"Oh you are so close"!!
No no no no, so close is waddling into the hospital in tears just hours before giving birth. THAT is close. 31 weeks is just "coasting" according to the doctor.

-When someone's reaction to how you are feeling, weather it be physical or emotional, is "Hormones". Well you listen here, I don't care if it's hormones, those are real feelings and there is nothing I can do to stop feeling them! It's not like I'm crying over a broken nail, I'm pissed because someone just yelled at me on the phone and I had nothing to do with their problem. You are going to sit there and tell me my reaction is due to HORMONES?! I'll cut you.

And this is the real problem I'm facing these days. I can't see half my iPad screen, or anything for that matter, because there is 

just nowhere to comfortably hold anything. 

As a side note: Things to never say to the expecting father: "Are you getting so excited"? I think that everyone involved in the conversation can agree that yes, he is getting so excited for more reasons than one. I can name a few just off the top of my head, a wife who is not miserably swollen, a baby to cuddle, life adjusting to the new "normal" and no longer being in the weird limbo phase that we've been in since June, and mostly no more conversations about my aches and pains. I don't blame him!

Thoughts on Being Almost 30 Weeks Pregnant

I thought I would be better about documenting my pregnancy. I've taken a picture nearly every week to show how much this belly is growing, but other than that I haven't done much else. So as of right now, just a few days shy of 30 weeks:
-I'm tired of being pregnant. Big Shock ;)
-I can't wait to be a stay at home mom!!
-On Sunday at church I had a girl came up to me and said "I had no idea you were pregnant! When are you due, what are you having"? "I'm due February 22, and it's a boy"! "Oh so you are in the uncomfortable part now, no sleeping and stuff". Then my sweet husband chimed in, "More like I'm not sleeping because she is snoring so loud". I believe this will be our first and last conversation ever.
-On top of having next to no problem sleeping through the night, I've only gotten up to go to the bathroom maybe 3 times during my whole pregnancy! I've always been slightly proud of the fact my husband doesn't have to wait for me to go to the bathroom everywhere we go, but now I wish I could give my bladder a big pat on the back!! Such an accomplishment for a huge pregnant person!
-I haven't had one constant craving throughout my pregnancy. Sometimes I get on kicks where some things sound really good like an over sized slice of pizza or hot fudge sundaes. For a few weeks I wanted BJ's tomato soup in a bread bowl.
-I threw up a few days ago from bending over. I don't know what it was, maybe I squished my stomach or something because as soon as I got down, everything was coming up.
-In order to even bend over I've officially resorted to more of a squat.
-Pregnancy brain hasn't so much been an issue for me. That is until Jim and I were at the grocery store and he would talk to me and I would just stare blankly at him. I had no answers for him.
-I often find I'm out of breath. Like can't walk and talk. I also attribute some of the pregnancy brain to the lack of oxygen.
-My back still hurts. I can not wait for that epidural.
-If you could win a gold medal in sleeping, I know I would win. I could sleep a million hours straight and still be exhausted when I woke up.
-I'm kind of getting annoyed that when I come home from work and want to put my pajama's on I have no big t shirts to be comfy in, or no hoodie to be comfy in. All my shirts are too small, and I don't think my husband enjoys sharing his wardrobe with me.
-Leggings are not pants. #sorryimnotsorry
-By the end of the week I can't even recognize my swollen feet. Sometime I think my toe nails are going to pop off!
-This belly gets in the way. There's no other way to put it.
-I have a new appreciation for my "pre baby" body.
-Baby only likes to show off his tricks for mom. If he's ever moving like crazy and someone wants to feel he will surly stop. I think Jim has only felt him moving a couple of times, but he puts on shows for me all day!
-That husband of mine, he takes good care of us. He always has, but it's the extra things like "go put your feet up" that make my heart melt. (and that's not even when they are huge yet!)
-I'm still so excited to be a mom.
-I'm still slightly stressed because I haven't nested like I've wanted to. So much left to do! Maybe after the holidays? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight?

                                            11 weeks                                                                                     12 weeks

                                                        14 weeks                                                                               15 weeks

                                                      18 weeks                                                                                  19 weeks

                                                      20 weeks                                                                                    21 weeks

                                                           22 weeks                                                                             24 weeks

                                                          25 weeks                                                                              26 weeks

                                                        27 weeks                                                                               29 weeks

That pretty much sums up everything until this point. We can't wait to meet you Baby Ross!!!
What I love about these pictures: When Chief decides he needs to make an appearance.
What I hate about these pictures: It also documents how much my hair has grown out. YIKES!
And yes. I did loose the white t shirt, so now we will be taking pictures in whatever shirt actually will fit on my body.

A Little Story From This Momma To Be

I will probably remember November 8, 2012 for the rest of my life.

No, it's not because I wanted to block all my facebook friends and all their annoying political posts

(Although, that would be a good reason to remember it)

On Wednesday, me and Fetus had a Moment.

I was on my way home from work and I just got off the phone with the doctors

answering machine.

I've been having really really really bad back pain.

Right under my left ribs.

I asked my doctor about this at my last visit and she said it was one of two things:

Muscle, easily treated and to start by putting a heating pad on it. If that helps, then we know it's the muscle and I'll need to go to the chiropractor, and/or get massages (yay!)

Or, it's my kidney, not as good because her solution to a kidney problem was to "watch it very closely". Not comforting.

So I started with the heating pad, pretty much 24/7. Sitting at my desk at work, laying in bed at night, watching tv, all the time.

After 4 days of this, nothing felt better and the pain would eventually spread to the front of my ribs by about 3:30, just in time for me to get in my car and try to drive home.

So I called and made an appointment for a kidney ultrasound to figure out what is going on.

That was last Friday.

So on Wednesday, my impatient achey self called the doctor to get the ultrasound results, leading me to this point in my life.

I was stopped in construction at a traffic light in a bit of a daze thinking about how bad my back hurt and how I needed to be laying down and not sitting in the car.

Right then, on my right side I felt a kick, a pretty dang good kick.

Then about 5 seconds later I felt it again.

and then it stopped, 

so I pushed and he kicked again.

So I pushed again, and as I pushed that time, he kicked my thumb, hard.

I just sat and smiled, I wasn't thinking about my pain anymore.

I was thinking about this little baby, and he was thinking about me.

And for good measure, he kicked me again.

In that moment, I realized this back pain is worth it. 

It doesn't matter if it's my kidney, or if it's muscle.

Whatever it is, it's going to get this little babe here.

Later that night Jim and I were sitting waiting for a movie. 

Fetus was moving all over the place, and I could feel him everywhere.

So I grabbed Jims hand so he could feel, but of course he stopped preforming all of this tricks.

Jim has yet to feel the baby move because he does this every. single. time.

Later in the movie he was kicking in the same spot a few times so I grabbed Jims hand again and pushed and waited, and just like that POW!

He decided to say hi to his daddy. 

November 8, you were a good day.

(After I finally heard back from the doctor it turns out there is nothing wrong with my left kidney, but my right has fluid in it. They said that was "normal" and they weren't worried. So now that nothing helps my back pain I'm here to suffer through the next 14.5 weeks. Oh Joy!)

It’s a…

BOY!!!

and we couldn’t be more excited!

We went in on Monday for our ultrasound

and I was really really nervous.

I had multiple dreams the night before that it was a girl,

and ever sense about week 14 I’ve just known it was a boy.

I didn’t want my mothers intuition to be wrong already, talk about starting off on the wrong foot.

And when I got there within the first 3 minutes she told me the baby’s legs were crossed.

I took that as a sign it was a girl, because I’d heard girls were generally more shy.

Then a little while later she showed us, that clearly, it was a boy.

We were so excited!

I nearly started crying, and if Jim had been sitting closer to me I know I would have.

I drank orange juice before going in because I heard that made for a really active baby

and it did.

Our little guy was moving all over the place, fist pumping and everything.

She kept asking me if I could feel it

and honestly I couldn’t.

Talk about feeling like a failure!

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying to pay extra close attention to see if

I feel anything out of the norm.

I don’t know if I’m talking myself into it,

or if I really do feel something.

The night before we found out I woke up

twice because I rolled too far onto my stomach and got a really

sharp intense pain in my lower stomach.

So if that counts for feeling something, then sure.

We don’t have any names picked out.

Well, I have names picked out,

Jim doesn’t exactly agree.

We are both excited that our baby with have friends his own age!

Brook and Kyle’s baby and Cj and Savanna’s baby will all be within 6 months of each other!

Both of my brothers just had boys in November and April so there will be

some rowdy cousins in our family as well!

Hi Baby

Hi 19 week old baby!! Can't wait to see you Monday!

Hey Baby, Hey Baby, Hey

This past summer has definitely been one that I’ll never forget. It’s been full of amazing vacations to San Francisco and Utah, job changes, and babies. Before I update you in chronological order, I’d like to remember every step of the way up until this point. And seeing that I don’t keep a journal, this is it. Maybe TMI for you, but for me, that’s just how I remember it.

I had decided about this time last year Jim and I were going to start “trying” in January 2012. Jim, being the responsible one, put the kibosh on that the second it came out of my mouth. Then I decided February, because if we got pregnant right away (ya right) we would have the baby right after he finished his masters (not exactly the right math seeing how he isn’t done until the second week in January 2013). We then together decided that we would try come summer. My idea of summer was May, his was August or September. After tons of begging, pleading, and tears, he also agreed that June seemed like a good month to start trying. So in the middle of May I got my IUD out and on June 15 I bought my first box of pregnancy tests. Because of my IUD I had no idea when the first day of my period was suppose to be so I just guessed as to when it was suppose to come. I came home and told Jim what I bought and he asked “well do you think you are pregnant”? Honestly, I had no idea. I told him I thought my period was suppose to come on Monday but I wasn’t sure and he said to wait until I was sure I had missed it to take a test. So I waited. All. Weekend. Long. It was such a long weekend! On Saturday we went to see What To Expect When Expecting (amazing BTW) and I cried the whole time. I cried on the way home because I so badly wanted to be pregnant. The next day was fathers day and I jokingly said “Hey do you want me to take a test and give it to you for fathers day”? Ya, not so much. He was sticking to waiting until I was sure I had missed it.

Monday morning came and I woke up 30 minutes before my alarm and realized that today was the day I was either going to be heart broken, or really excited. So I hurried to the bathroom, ripped open a test, and waited about 10 seconds for that blue line to show dark, and fast.

I’m pretty sure that very second my heart stopped. I had to reread the box, and the paper inside to make sure that I knew exactly what the lines meant. Sure enough, I was pregnant, and apparently very pregnant. I was shaking and I didn’t know what to do so I picked up my phone then and there and called Jim. “Hello”? “I’m pregnant”, exactly how the conversation went. HAPPY MONDAY, YOU JUST GOT TO WORK, OH YA, YOU ARE GOING TO BE A DADDY! That would have been a lot more exciting to say. I cried, Jim was so excited it made me sad I didn’t keep my mouth shut until after work to tell him in person. I was honestly shocked, and I still am. How is it possible to have an IUD for 2 years and get pregnant right away? I almost feel guilty that it came so easy for us. Jim always wonders why I’m so shocked because I was literally tracking everything thanks to ovulation sticks, and the app on my phone. It was so hard for me not to tell anyone, but I had my select few that knew, and that was good enough for me until we could get to Utah and tell my family in person.

 

Those weeks are all kind of a blur to me now, but I do remember feeling really chubby, and telling Taylor that I would welcome morning sickness with open arms if it would make me drop a few lbs. at first. Terrible? Yes. The truth? Double yes. Cursed myself? Absolutely. Ever since week 6 I spend my fair share of time next to that very toilet I was sitting on when I found out I was carrying this little peanut. For a few weeks my morning sickness was like clockwork. 7:45 would roll around and I’d hit my knees. Then it started coming earlier, and I was trying to fight it with crackers and water. Now, I have next to no desire to ever eat a ritz cracker again, and I loved them. Then my morning sickness started hitting early in the morning, and also when I got to work, or in the car, or after a really good dinner, you know, at the most convenient of times. Bacon, ritz crackers, and as of about 11:00 this morning, pop tarts, are on the list of foods I do not eat. Chick-fil-a, Cheba Hut, and Philly Cheese Steaks are all on the list of give-me-right-now-before-I-kill-someone. Yum.

It truly is crazy what your body does as soon as you get pregnant, I don’t even recognize myself anymore. I’ve had two doctor appointments. The first one we just talked and got to hear the heart beat, a solid 154. The next one was the ultra sound, and we saw our little babe for the first time. I am however really upset about the print outs of the ultra sound we got. She said she prints them dark because they fade so fast, well ours sure haven’t so I have a hard time seeing anything at all. I have my third appointment on Tuesday and I think he’s going to say lay off the carbs, that’s all you are consuming. There is so much more to add, and so much more to say, but It’s late, and I’m tired, and this has gone on long enough. If you’ve made it this far you are either A) just that bored or B) a real friend.

Hi Baby! Or should I say, Hi picture of darkness!

We really are so excited to be blessed with this baby. Even when I’m hunched over the toilet in the morning, and Jim is listening while he brushes his teeth, we know we are so lucky. Wish us luck, because honestly, I’m going to need it. I don’t think my body will know how to do labor, I find that absolutely impossible!!

Eleven, Twelve, and Fourteen weeks

Dear Dad,

Happy Fathers day to my Favorite dad in the world!

Thanks for putting up with my terrible math skills, and finally letting me drop math my senior year because I just didn’t get it.

Thanks for coming to all my dance recitals and competitions, even if they did last allllllllllllll day.

Thanks for eating Burger King for the entire week of Nutcracker rehearsal/performance every year.

Thanks for “always being on my side”.

Thanks for reading all the Harry Potter books to me, even when I was a senior in high school.

Thanks for providing two wedding receptions for me.

Thanks for supporting me all through collage.

Thanks for making me the princess, and the favorite child.

Thanks for sending me flowers on Valentines day in high school, just to make sure I felt loved.

Thanks for carrying me through the mud…. literally.

Thanks for always being so great that my friends say “I love your dad”, because I do too.

Thanks for all the pep talks when there are tearful calls home…. still.

Thanks for loving me through that “awkward looking” phase of life.

Thanks for paying for all of my parking tickets in high school so I could graduate. Did I tell you that you did?

(awkward family photo anyone?)

Thanks for building all of those amazing science projects for the “easy” physics class I took. You pretty much bought my grade :)

Thanks for the kitty funeral we had, and for being the only other person who attended.

Thanks for all the weird nick names, and my personal fav, squido.

Love This Daddy

The One That Got Away

I only have a few hours before the sun goes down and I again become mortified to be home alone. We will see how I feel after this post if I’ll actually be able to stay and clean, or if I’m going to have to run away, haha. The sad thing is, it’s true. So here’s what happened….

Last Wednesday, February 15, I had the day off because my parents were coming in town that night. I spent all day cleaning. Literally all day, from 10 am to 4:30 pm. The house looked amazing! Jim came home from work at around 5:30 and started to tell me about what was going on at the end of the street. There were a few cop cars, and a few all black under cover cars at the house two houses down across the street. Jim said there were cops everywhere and a couple guys hand cuffed on the ground. Fast forward to about 6:45 when I went outside to tell Jim I was ready to leave because I really just HAD to go to Bath and Body works to get some “spring soap” before my parents get in town. I know, I know, I’m a soap snob and we only had Christmas soap left!! Anyway, we left about 5 minutes later down the opposite end of the street.

After Bath and Body we had to pick up my parents from the air port. Jim had asked me while we were at the air port if I wanted to take my parents stuff back to the house and then dinner, or just go straight to dinner. I was starving (go figure) so I said dinner and then home. Now it’s about 9:15 and when we pulled in I could hear Chief going CRAZY in the house. Usually when we get home he knows its us and he will bark maybe once or twice, just to say hi and then he comes out through his doggy door or he waits on his bed in the kitchen for us. My mom wasn’t Chief’s biggest fan so I wanted to go in and calm him down so that my mom wouldn’t freak out when she came inside. Everything was fine when I got inside and Chief was just excited to see us. While Jim, my mom, and my dad were getting suitcases inside and getting everything situated I saw a couple things in the family room that I had forgotten to take to my bedroom earlier so I wanted to hurry and  put those away before my mom thought that I was messy.

Chief has a track record of chewing things like TV remotes, base boards, our ataman, shoes… you get the picture. We have a baby gate that keeps him locked in the kitchen, and down the hall to our bedroom. we keep all the doors in the hallway closed because he has eaten a Costco size thing of paper towels out of the pantry before too. So this is what things look like for Chief on a regular day.

And that’s what it looked like when we got home too. How was I suppose to know anything had gone on? When I opened the door to the bedroom I saw a bunch of white stuff on the ground before I even got the chance to turn the light on. My first thought was “Holy crap, Chief!! He ate a bunch of stuff out of the garbage can again!” Then it hit me. I was the one that had opened the door, Chief hadn’t been in there. Then I realized all the drawers were opened and it was my clothes everywhere. I imidiately started to scream for Jim (on the complete opposite end of the house) we met in the kitchen and down the hall Jim and my dad went. The sliding glass door was open just enough to get a body through. It’s really heavy, and it doesn’t slide really easy so you have to put your whole body into opening and closing it.

We had been coming and going all day through all the doors in the back of the house and we had left two doors unlocked. We didn’t put the bar to the sliding glass door down, and the laundry room door was unlocked too. Needless to say, they were in our bedroom and were clearly looking for fast money. They only things stolen were a couple of my watches, and a charm bracelet. On Saturday morning when Jim went to leave for tennis we learned they stole his tennis bag with tennis balls and his tennis racket. We didn’t have any cash hiding anywhere so they really didn’t get much. The things that they took were really weird, I mean I had a bracelet from Tiffany’s sitting with my watches, a diamond necklace in a box that was on the same shelf, but they didn’t take those. I kinda feel weird listing other valuable things we had that they didn’t take because well, this is the web and those creepers could be creeping my blog!!

I think this picture helps with explaining what could have happened. The gate was open just a little bit so we think that they had tried the other two doors first. I honestly can’t remember if the laundry room door to the hall was open or not, but I have been in the habit of leaving it open because I like  Chief to have more room, and I know how much he looooooves looking out windows. Either way, Chief was on the other side of the door and no one would venture in uninvited with Chief. He looks scary, a big black 100lb dog, and even if you don’t see him, his bark is alarming. I think that after they saw/heard chief and then saw that the bedroom door was unlocked and that the door to the hall was closed, it was an easy hit. Chief couldn’t get into the bedroom, unfortunately. As you can see from the picture that there is an irrigation ditch that runs right behind our house and you can get into it from either end of the street. No one knows you are back there, and it’s not very deep. It’s probably 5 feet from the top of our fence to the ground on the other side. Then with the stairs to the slide, easy easy easy.

Once the cops finally arrived they were able to find 2 finger prints, we are just hoping that they aren’t our own. We asked the officer if she thought that the incident at the end of the street had anything to do with our house. She checked the report from earlier and it turns out that the guys in handcuffs use to live in that house and were trying to get in to get the rest of their stuff. Unfortunately, she had run into the prior week and they “weren’t very good guys”. We left around 6:50 and the last officer left them at 7:11. There’s a good chance that it was them because they knew the neighborhood, but she also said it could have been as random as someone walking down the the ditch and seeing that the latch was up. Chief has graduated from being locked in the kitchen to fullllllllll range of the house. He loves it, he even treated himself to 4 boxes of girl scout cookies. I seriously couldn’t be more grateful for my dog. Had he not been here things would have been a lot worse. I’m so happy that no one was harmed and that the things that were taken were only material and can essentially be replaced. I do happen to be the biggest baby now. I’m terrified of everything, jump at the sound of ice falling in the freezer, and I have nightmares nearly every night. But we are doing everything we can to make our house safer, and I feel like we’ve done a pretty good job.

*I did not proof read this because honestly the story freaks me out*

2011 In Review

Hey Blog, I’m still mad at you, so let’s not get use to me posting, mmmmk? Last time I went to write a post I got all the way done, and when I went to add the pictures all hell broke loose. Needless to say, I was so frustrated, I was near tears, and ended up taking a nap instead. Now I’m only here to post about the last year in our lives. Unfortunately it calls for a lot of pictures. I hope this one goes better.

January

Well January was apparently a pretty boring month. They only pictures I have are of Chief (shocker) and our table and our bed. We just moved into our house so furniture was a priority. We bought our dinning room table, and decorated our bedroom a little bit. Boring? We will move on.

February

February was pretty low key as well. We went to Sedona for Valentines day and it was so fun! I’d never been there before and I really cant wait to go back. My parents also came to visit us at the end of the month and we did lots of fun things! We went to a Spring Training game, and the only picture I took the whole time was of the spider that was found on my Nacho. What a memory.

March

We took a fun trip to Mexico with our friends Cj and Savanna and the doggies! They love Mexico to say the least, I mean look at the excitement on Chiefs face waiting for Jim to through his fetcher. Not to mention the awful family photo that we got. Chief gave us a total of 5 seconds of his time.

April

April we celebrated our BIRTHDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! These are the only pictures that I was able to find from them, but I do remember they were sure fun! Also we had Shelby’s bridal shower that was amazing, again, the only picture I have.

May

May could have been my favorite month. We went on a Cruise with our friends Kyle and Brook, and it was AMAZING to say the least. I really want to do it again, ya? It was Also Shelby’s wedding the week later, and I had to go on Facebook to get this picture, and it’s not even a good one! Thanks Becca!

June

June was exciting. After Shelby’s wedding we had to get ready for Melissa’s so we took a trip to Idaho. We even made our way to Ruppert’s Festival Days (I think). There was popcorn, mangos, and fireworks involved.

July

Clearly, July was jam packed with excitement! Melissa and Charlton tied the knot on his birthday, and we made a couple trips to Utah, and celebrated our one year Anniversary! I was so happy to see my Family in July, it’s only once a year that we are all together, and it’s usually just for a few days. July is right up there with May in my book. Congratulations babe, you made it ONE YEAR with me. You deserve a metal!

August

August was pretty low key, trying to recover after July. Spent a day by the pool, and then met this little guy for the first time.

September

Spent the weekend in Mexico with Nick and Shelby, and enjoyed the company of Chief. We are so happy that we have friends who just love our dog almost as much as we do. You can borrow him anytime! We also went to the ASU black out game and got to sit with Kyle and Brook and their family! It was so fun and we actually won! YAY!

October

The parents came to visit again. Lucky us! Too bad these are again, the only pictures taken. Clearly, we were always having a party! Reading by the pool?… come on….

November

We spent Thanksgiving in Flagstaff with the doggy, and it was fun. We went on some very beautiful drives and it was exactly what I needed before the crazy Holiday season! Then the next week we had a redo Thanksgiving at Paige and Glen’s and we went the whole 9 yards… except we may have had to return a defrosted turkey for lack of deep fryer.

December

We celebrated Christmas! YAY! This was my first Christmas away from my parents, and I SURVIVED! I have amazing family in Arizona and they really did save my life. I don’t know what I would do without them! We also got to spend some time with MELISSA who lives in Florida! I really really need her to move back! And we went to Jim’s work party… Turns out there was no Ugly sweater contest… Awkward…. (please pay no attention to my orange face, it wasn’t that bad in real life… promise)